The citizens, like the federal, state and local governments, were deeply in debt when the Great Recession began in December of 2007. Things didn’t exactly improve the following summer when the housing bubble burst and the entire economy teetered on the brink of collapse. Credit card debt ballooned and savings dwindled as people were laid off or had their hours cut. Governments, too, were hard hit, with lower tax receipts and increasing costs, particularly for health care, sending their budgets spiraling out of control.

There were fears and scare stories aplenty, and many of them were well-founded.

But the American people rose to the occasion. What they did was start to save even as they began to pay down their debt. A few numbers put things in perspective:

Consumer debt was at its peak in the summer of 2008. Now, less than three years later, the American people have 7 percent less mortgage debt, 12 percent less in car loans, and fully 15 percent less on their credit cards.

What’s most impressive, though, is that people are saving at nearly triple the rate they were from 2007 through 2009. Elected officials in Washington, in Boston and in cities and towns across the land would do well to look to the people - once again. Faced with a crisis, the citizens stepped to the fore. It’s now up to the government, at all levels, to follow that example.